Hawke's Bay Today

Toothless Highlander­s have small margins for error

- Steve Hepburn of ODT

The game is made up of 100 onepercent­ers. For a team like the Highlander­s, it comes down firstly to doing the basics well and efficientl­y.

Muck those up and the side simply does not have the firepower to pull a rabbit out of the hat to win games.

So when the side missed three crucial lineouts in the final quarter of its game against the Hurricanes in Wellington it was only going to end one way.

The side went down 17-11, earning a bonus point for the narrow loss.

It defended well and never let the Hurricanes — who have X-factor players — get away.

But defending in the modern game is the strength of many teams. Attack is what wins games and the Highlander­s did not offer enough to get in front.

They made twice as many tackles as their opponents — 188 to 89 — and also had a third of the territory and less than 40 per cent of the ball.

Looking at those statistics it was a wonder the side conceded only three tries. It did defend well and the players have developed trust in each other when without the ball.

The side’s attack though is scratchy and is struggling to hang on to the ball.

A couple of poor kicks when it had the penalty advantage did not help the Highlander­s and it just could not keep enough pressure on the home team to get more than the one try.

Liam Coltman came off the bench for the final 20 minutes and he could not connect with his jumpers at lineout time as the side turned over ball.

The Highlander­s scored their only try well into the second half when, from a 5m lineout, the side drove the ball up, and Ash Dixon went the blind side, drew the final defender and Smith went in untouched.

With two minutes left, the Highlander­s kicked a handy penalty to get within seven points. They then had to attempt to run the ball back 100m at the end to win the game.

It ended with an a wonky lineout. Aaron Smith put in a good effort for the Highlander­s while up front Shannon Frizell, Pari Pari Parkinson and Ayden Johnstone worked hard.

 ?? Photo / Photosport ?? Highlander­s openside flanker Dillon Hunt gets to the loose ball ahead of Hurricanes midfield back Vince Aso.
Photo / Photosport Highlander­s openside flanker Dillon Hunt gets to the loose ball ahead of Hurricanes midfield back Vince Aso.

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